Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco

Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Paulo Cesar Tabares-VelascoDr. Tabares-Velasco came to Colorado School of Mines after being a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where he developed the simulation environment for NREL’s Smart Power Lab. He was a developer of NREL building simulation/optimization tool BEopt. Prior to that he was a postdoctoral researcher at NREL where he led NREL technical research on phase change materials in collaboration with the Department of Energy Building Envelope and Windows R&D program, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Fraunhofer CSE. He also validated and improved the finite-difference/phase change material (PCM) model in EnergyPlus and analyzed pre-cooling strategies in residential buildings to reduce electric peak demand.

Dr. Tabares-Velasco’s work at Penn State on vegetated roofs has been recognized with the 2009 Crosby Field Award, 2009 Willis H. Carrier Award and 2009 Best Poster Award by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the 2011 Green Roof Research Award of Excellence by Green Roof for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and an NSF video production. He was also a Student Project Engineer at the Industrial Assessment Center at Colorado State University (CSU), where he performed more than 20 energy assessment to manufacturing plants in Colorado, New Mexico and North Dakota.

Education

  • PhD in Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University
  • MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University
  • BSc in Engineering Physics from the Monterrey Institute of Technology

Research Areas

  • Building energy simulation
  • Thermal storage
  • Green roofs
  • Heat transfer applied to buildings
  • Building integration with the smart grid

Recent Publications

2020

  • Wijesuriya, S., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Experimental apparatus and methodology to test and quantify thermal performance of micro and macro-encapsulated phase change materials in building envelope applications,” Journal of Energy Storage 32:101770 (2020).
  • Fathollahzadeh, M. H., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Building control virtual test bed and functional mock-up interface standard: comparison in the context of campus energy modelling and control,” Journal of Building Performance Simulation 13(4):456–471 (2020).
  • Kordziel, S., Glass, S. V., Boardman, C. R., Munson, R. A., Zelinka, S. L., Pei, S., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Hygrothermal characterization and modeling of cross-laminated timber in the building envelope,” Building and Environment 177:106866 (2020).
  • Wijesuriya, S., Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Biswas, K., Heim, D. “Empirical validation and comparison of PCM modeling algorithms commonly used in building energy and hygrothermal software,” Building and Environment 173:106750 (2020).

2019

  • Kordziel, S., Pei, S., Glass, S. V., Zelinka, S., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Structure moisture monitoring of an 8-story mass timber building in the Pacific Northwest,” Journal of Architectural Engineering 25(4):04019019 (2019).
  • Vera, S., Pinto, C., Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Molina, G., Flamant, G., Bustamante, W., Pianella, A., Kincaid, N. “Analysis and comparison of two vegetative roof heat and mass transfer models in three different climates,” Energy and Buildings 202:109367 (2019).
  • Setter, L., Smoorenburg, E., Wijesuriya, S., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Energy and hygrothermal performance of cross laminated timber single-family homes subjected to constant and variable electric rates,” Journal of Building Engineering 25:100784 (2019).
  • Heine, K., Thatte, A., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “A simulation approach to sizing batteries for integration with net-zero energy residential buildings,” Renewable Energy 139:176–185 (2019).
  • Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Speake, A., Harris, M., Newman, A., Vincent, T., Lanahan, M. “A modeling framework for optimization-based control of a residential building thermostat for time-of-use pricing,” Applied Energy 242:1346–1357 (2019).
  • Cetin, K. S., Fathollahzadeh, M. H., Kunwar, N., Do, H., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Development and validation of an HVAC on/off controller in EnergyPlus for energy simulation of residential and small commercial buildings,” Energy and Buildings 183:467–483 (2019).
  • Lanahan, M., Engert, S., Kim, T., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Rapid visualization of the potential residential cost savings from energy storage under time-of-use electric rates,” Journal of Building Performance Simulation 12(1):68–81 (2019).

2018

  • Vera, S., Pinto, C., Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Bustamante, W. “A critical review of heat and mass transfer in vegetative roof models used in building energy and urban environment simulation tools,” Applied Energy 232:752–764 (2018).
  • Wijesuriya, S., Brandt, M., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Parametric analysis of a residential building with phase change material (PCM)-enhanced drywall, precooling, and variable electric rates in a hot and dry climate,” Applied Energy 222:497–514 (2018).
  • Choobineh, M., Speake, A., Harris, M., Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Mohagheghi, S. “End-User-Aware Community Energy Management in a Distribution System Exposed to Extreme Temperatures,” IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid10(4):3753–3764 (2018).

2017

  • Vera, S., Pinto, C., Tabares-Velasco, P. C., Bustamante, W., Victorero, F., Gironás, J., Bonilla, C. A. “Influence of vegetation, substrate, and thermal insulation of an extensive vegetated roof on the thermal performance of retail stores in semiarid and marine climates,” Energy and Buildings 146:312–321 (2017).
  • Lanahan, M., Tabares-Velasco, P. C. “Seasonal thermal-energy storage: A critical review on BTES systems, modeling, and system design for higher system efficiency,” Energies 10(6):743 (2017).

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